


We made it

by ClaraCivry (Kat_Of_Dresden)



Category: Rise of Skywalker - Fandom, Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Ben wasn't dead, Character Death Fix, Fix-It, He wakes up and Rey is there, He was just badly hurt, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Canon Fix-It, Redeemed Ben Solo, Reylo - Freeform, Star Wars Spoilers, for him, not super much but it's there, to reassure him
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:36:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21924529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kat_Of_Dresden/pseuds/ClaraCivry
Summary: He wasn't dead.They wouldn't have let him die so easily.AKA Ben wakes up from "death" and finds a familiar face and an explanation.And maybe some hope.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo
Comments: 5
Kudos: 110





	We made it

He could see it all.

As if he was a bird up high, some sort of floating presence in the sky, Ben saw the end of the war.

He saw families reuniting, hugs, smiles. He saw Rey embracing her friends, finally able to breathe after so long fighting. Finally being able to rest after all this time with the weight of the universe on her shoulders, on top of the uncertainty of who she was, why she’d grown up alone. Now she had her answers, her closure, and although she would never get her parents back she’d managed to find a big new family, who was happy celebrating.

Because the Sith were gone, there was no more First order and the inhabitants of thousand of planets could breathe at peace, finally. There was a chance that things turn sour again and there be a new empire, but probably not for a while, not in some years. The people would react venomously if anyone tried anything now and besides, Rey, Finn and Poe were still there, alive and kicking, ready for another fight. Formidable foes no one would want to have to face again. Or once. No, there would be peace for a while.

Although he couldn’t really embrace anyone, he was breathing too (in a more metaphorical way), relieved too. For so long, he’d fought against himself, so so so very long had he spent hurting himself, feeling inadequate in both sides of the force. Too dark and ambitious for the light side, too emotional and unstable for the dark side. Too light for darkness, too dark for light. He’d never had a place anywhere, and had felt a disappointment to those around him no matter who that was.

But Rey had been different, because she’d been like him, in some ways (too powerful for her own good, STUBBORN) but she’d made a choice, and she’d stuck by it and that was something Ben admired and enjoyed about her. She came from darkness but chose to be in the light, and it was something really special that most goody two shoes couldn’t appreciate it. But Ben appreciated and had felt a kindred spirit in her.

And then had fought her, because she only made his very confused mind even more confused. But they’d had a million fights, a million occasions to kill each other, and they hadn’t. They never wanted to see the other dead, no matter how much they fought, no matter how much logical thought dictated that this other person was a threat and would have to be gone. But they never wanted the other to be gone. In the end, that was killed Ben, no Sith, no empire, no resistance. Just seeing Rey there, laying on the floor. He hadn’t been able to stand it and had given all he had to her.

It wasn’t a bad death. Although it bugged him a bit that there were literally zero beings in the entire universe mourning him, he knew he’d died to save someone more important and loved than him, and that in that way he’d made up for some of the crap he’d done before. Now he could go, stop existing in peace. Dissolve into a pool of force.

Or something.

This was the first time Ben was dead and apparently he wasn’t very good at it. Because he could still see, he could still hear, feel. So he closed his (metaphorical? Incorporeal?) eyes and tried to stop thinking. Although he was glad to have been able to watch the fight’s happy ending (and see Rey so happy), it had been enough. If he was dead he wanted to be proper dead, not just semi-dead. This was no life.

But as he was trying to stop existing, he started feeling things.... Things he shouldn’t be able to feel. Like pain. A lot. Which may be that his soul was in pain, but why would it be? Things had ended properly for his soul too. And this pain was mostly located on his stomach and chest. Odd, since he wasn’t supposed to have a body any more. He was also getting oddly hot, and his hand, somehow, moved a weight on top of him, and he was less hot.

This was all too specific for it just being astral or non-corporeal experiences. This all felt very corporeal. He still had his eyes closed, afraid that when he opened them, everything would change.

“He’s waking up! I’ll get Rey!” A voice said, and Ben’s head recognized it as Dameron.

“You’re not leaving me alone with him!” Another voice (Finnnn) said.

“Rey said he’s not dangerous any more.”

“Rey’s in love with the man, you can’t trust her.”

“Fine, you go get her, I’ll stay.”

And so Finn left and Ben kept hearing, and feeling. He could feel the humidity, the softness of the fabric of his clothes. How could he feel all of this? It was really his first time being dead, but he thought he would be more... Well, more dead. This didn’t feel dead at all. Also, the people acknowledging him and saying that he was waking up didn’t help. Huh. Someone came and approached him. He could feel their presence, hear their breath.

There was a slightly familiar hand on his, a gentle kiss. 

“You can open your eyes now, Ben. It’s all right. No one will hurt you. I won’t let them.”

It’s scary, but Rey’s voice said it would be all right and Ben knew that he couldn’t stay in limbo forever.

He opened his eyes and found himself laying in a bed, in a green marble room. Something seemingly from a palace, although Rey and her friend looked as humble and haggard as usual. He couldn’t understand. His head hurt, his stomach hurt, and he couldn’t understand what on Earth was happening. He looked at Rey for guidance.

“Hey, there. So good to see you awake. You took your sweet time.”

Ben was lost. Poe seemed to catch up on to it, and asked:

“What’s the last thing you remember? It’s been seven months since we won.” He clarified.

“... but nearly lost you.” Rey continued.

Ben tried to speak. It was hard and his voice was raspy and raw, but he managed.

“... But I died.”

“And I got you back. I couldn’t give you as much life force as you gave me, because I was weakened and to avoid any more tragedies, but I managed to get your heart beating, your breath back on your lungs. And it’s been hard, and there have been many visits to many specialists, but hey, many bedside nights, but hey - you’re back.”

“You did....”

“I only did what was necessary. You didn’t think we’d be celebrating and happy when you’d just died, right? You can’t really think that I would just be happy and have gone on my merry way.”

“I didn’t just think it...” Ben said, with a voice that didn’t feel like his own yet. Apparently not because it was a dead man’s voice, but because he simply hadn’t used in half a year, laying in some sort of comatose state. “I saw it. You embraced your friend, you... you buried some lightsabers in the sand. I saw it.”

“And what happened to you?”

“I was forgotten.”

Rey made an offended face.

“We’ve been looking for each other since we met, in opposites of a war, all that time ago. I always wanted to take your hand, always wanted to be with you and there were always things in between that didn’t allow us. You think that when we managed to be together I would let go so easy? That I would forget you?”

Ben looked at her, wondering if this was a dream he would wake up from. No. This was reality, he knew. She’d brought him back. They were both alive. Dameron spoke again.

“The rest of the world hasn’t forgotten, either. How you badly injured yourself to help Rey, how you fought with her against Palpatine and the Sith. The world still cares, and many of them seem to know that you never were as dark as you claimed to be. Some even thank you because Kylo Ren’s nonsense made First Order threats be... Unimportant. A huge first order fleet and you sent it to get the girl you fancied, and then didn’t even hurt her. You were a really shitty bad guy, really.”

Ben half smiled. Rey squeezed his hand.

“So I’m really alive?”

“Took us a while, but yeah. You’re alive, the Sith are gone, the force is balanced and we can start anew. You’re here, and I’m here.”

“We made it.”

“That’s exactly it, Ben. We made it.”

There was peace around them, there was hope and a new found joy. There was room for many good things to come, for a world and a life without war, and without all pain. Together.

Because we made it.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Hope you liked! 
> 
> Please leave a comment if you did!


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